Sunvisors are devices used in vehicles to provide front window and, in some cases, side window screening against sunlight Such sunvisors are pivotal about a longitudinal axis between an inoperative position where it is folded towards the headliner and at least a first screening position where the sunvisor is deployed such that it extends angularly from the headliner and its front surface faces the windshield. Most sunvisors can also be unlocked from a roof structure mounted clip or D-ring and pivoted to the side window about a support arm attached to the vehicle roof structure. A biasing means such as a detent member is typically mounted within the visor body to prevent movement and noise when the sunvisor is in the inoperative position.
Over the years, a number enhancements or features have been included in sunvisors to increase their versatility as well as to add other convenience factors to the vehicle occupants. A common feature is a vanity mirror with or without a cover (pivotal or sliding) and with or without an illumination means which is mounted in a rear surface of the sunvisor, typically the surface facing the headliner when the sunvisor is in the inoperative position. The sunvisor need only be pivoted to the first screening position to allow use of the mirror. Another feature is the telescopic extension of the entire sunvisor along the longitudinal axis of the support arm to enable the sunvisor to be repositioned laterally across the windshield or the side window to block sun light entry in a particular direction for an occupant of the vehicle.
A typical sunvisor for a vehicle, comprises a sunvisor body comprising a front surface and a rear surface; a hinging arrangement for hinging the sunvisor body to a roof structure of a vehicle such that the sunvisor body is tiltable about an upper horizontal axis between a at least a first screening position where said front surface faces an upper portion of the windshield and an inoperative position where said sunvisor body is upwardly folded and the rear surface thereof is facing the headliner, the hinging arrangement comprising a hook member or check retainer in which a rod-shaped lateral extension of the sunvisor body can be detachably engaged, an upper rod unrotatably connected to the sunvisor body and comprising a lateral end portion that laterally protrudes from a side portion of the sunvisor body which is opposite to said rod-shaped lateral extension; a detent member rotatably coupled to the upper rod and designed to selectively retain the sunvisor body in said first screening and in said inoperative positions; and pivot means connected to the lateral end portion of the upper rod and fastened to the roof structure to swing the sunvisor body against a resistance exerted against pivoting by a braking arrangement, between the first screening position where the sunvisor body is hooked in the hook member to a second screening position where the rear surface of the sunvisor body is adjacent to an upper portion of a side window. The detent member is arranged inside the sunvisor body.
At present, there is a tendency according to which sunvisor bodies must be made as thin as possible to increase the upper free space what is an increasingly critical design demand for vehicles.
Thus, car manufacturers more and more require sunvisor bodies to have a thickness of 15 mm or less instead of the usual 20 mm thickness. A standard detent member has a thickness of up to 12 mm, a standard vanity pack i.e. the vanity mirror, the cover, the illumination means, the electric connections may have a whole thickness of 10-12 mm when integrating the fixing interfaces, and a standard cover has a thickness of up to 2 mm per side. Thus, it is rather difficult to achieve a thickness of less than 15 mm for a sunvisor body using standard components only in a standard structure, moreover when the sunvisor is to comprise the vanity pack and/or other functionalities.
DE-10025743-A1 and GB-2278327-A1 disclose different prior art systems. For example, DE-10025743-A1 discloses a sunvisor body comprising a front surface and a rear surface and a hinging arrangement for hinging the sunvisor body to a roof structure, such that the sunvisor body is tiltable about an upper horizontal axis between a first screening position where said front surface faces an upper portion of a windshield and an inoperative position where said rear surface is upwardly folded to face the roof structure. An upper rod is unrotatably connected to the sunvisor body and comprises a lateral end portion that laterally protrudes from a side portion of the sunvisor body which is opposite to said rod-shaped lateral extension, and a detent member rotatably coupled to the upper rod and designed to selectively retain the sunvisor body in at least said first screening position and in said inoperative position. Pivot means are connected to the lateral end portion of the upper rod and fastened to the roof structure to swing the sunvisor body between the first screening position to a second screening position where the rear surface of the sunvisor body is adjacent to an upper portion of a side window. The detent member is coupled to the lateral end portion of the rod and located outside the sunvisor body, and the pivot means are integrated in the detent member.